


Cottonmouth

by gladiatorAviator



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe, Childhood Friends, Crossover, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-09-22 03:44:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17052476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gladiatorAviator/pseuds/gladiatorAviator
Summary: Blue would never let anything hurt Red. So what if Red was quirkless? It didn’t matter to him. Nothing could ever tear them apart.Until the day Red was no longer quirkless.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [quirklessloser](https://archiveofourown.org/users/quirklessloser/gifts).



> A friend of mine and I were talking about a fs/bnha crossover and well... Lord help me I’m back on my bullshit

Blue wasn’t really one to show people affection. Hell, he hardly had any friends due to his rough and abrasive personality, but he liked it better that way. Being kind and generous to people just turned them into doormats, to be taken advantage of, to be walked all over then discarded like they weren’t human after all. Blue knew this; he’s already seen it in his eyes, the way villains would sidle up close to heroes, pretending that they changed, then betraying them when the moment proved itself.

So, it didn’t matter he only had one friend—maybe two, if he counted Green as a friend. 

But that one friend, _god,_ Blue would do anything for him. For Red, the kid that should have embodied everything he hated, what with his soft eyes and kind demeanor. Red, who would let himself get walked all over, and then blame himself when someone discarded him like a wad of scratch paper. 

Of course, people didn’t think anything much of Red, what with him being quirkless and all. But Blue still cared about him the same, quirk or no quirk. Besides, he needed to be protected, and what better way to protect him than use his quirk, to turn people’s blows against them, to make them _hurt_ worse than whatever they could do to Red. It didn’t matter that his own body held that pain until he was ready to release it; holding back any pain that could have been transferred to Red was always worth it. Dear, sweet Red. Why would anyone want to hurt him in the first place? It made no sense to Blue. 

But he would protect him all the same. He’d hold back a thousand blows before letting a single one touch Red.

And where was he anyhow?

Blue sighed, kicking his feet in the air. He was here, at the bench near the park they played at. The metal was still cold, and it stuck uncomfortably to Blue’s hands. Red should be showing up at any moment. They still had another round of heroes and villains to play—Blue was playing the villain this time, intentionally holding himself back so Red would be able to win. He liked seeing Red smile, the way his eyes brighten and his cheeks struggling to contain his happy grin plastered to his face. It made Blue feel some sort of way. Warm, but in his chest. Happy, but not in the regular way. It felt better, the way Red made him feel, like he had worth beyond just being strong and being able to help fend off his would-be attackers. That he could feel happy and kind like how Red was, that his heart could smile as wide as Red’s. That beautiful, stunning smile. 

Blue shook his head. He’d been focusing more on Red lately, in a way that went beyond just being best friends. It made Blue feel more awkward around him, even though he’d been around him his whole life. He felt unbalanced, teetering at the edge of a tightrope of mixed emotions he didn’t know how to tease out. And still, where _was_ Red?

Frowning, Blue pushed himself off of the bench and started pacing. He couldn’t sit still for too long. He liked to move, to put his energy somewhere rather than have it just sit in his chest, compounding and compounding until it exploded into something he couldn’t control. His quirk already had a handle on that, so why should he put himself through more suffering when he could _not_ do that? So, he paced, making laps around the bench, pacing to the sidewalk and back, pacing, pacing.

What if something had happened to him, on his way here? He knew that the city they lived in wasn’t exactly the safest place around, but Red had never taken so long to get here. His house was only a few blocks away, just a few minutes walk from there to the park. Blue gritted his teeth, balling his fists. Had someone hurt him on his way here? Should he walk over to his house and check up on him?

Had he forgotten?

Fear tugged at Blue’s heart. No, Red would never forget him, would he? They were always going to be together. That’s what they said underneath pillow forts, up in the treetops, in between their houses and school. Inseparable, Red told him. Blue liked that word. Inseparable. Nothing could ever tear them apart. Absolutely nothing. Blue would fight back anything that tried. He would win. He would win for him and Red. 

Blue paced over to the old pine at the edge of the park. He wouldn’t be able to see Red coming this way, but he needed a change in scenery. He knelt down near the base, hands brushing over the initials they had carved into it. He traced Red’s shaky R, his own confident B, the intertwined plus between. Something tugged at his heart, a hard, sad jolt, making Blue growl and stand up abruptly. He walked back to the bench, sitting himself back down and kicking his legs in the air, arms folded across his chest as he sank deeper into the cold metal. He closed his eyes, casting his hearing out, listening to the cars pass by on the street, birds twittering in the trees, the air blowing past his ears.

He let himself drift, lost in the sounds of city life. It felt comforting, hearing the familiar noises and Blue could pretend that he hasn’t been sitting here for far too many minutes without Red next to him. Though, that sound continuously hitting the pavement, hurried steps slapping the ground again and again... could it be?

Blue opened his eyes just as Red stopped in front of him, curled into himself and holding the bench for support, panting heavily. “H-hi, Blue!” he said between breaths. “I’m sorry I’m—that I’m late!” He beamed at Blue, and all the worry Blue had been holding in vanished. 

Blue stood up, throwing an arm around Red. “You had me worried,” he said, trying to contain exactly _how_ worried he was out of his voice. “You’re never this late.”

Red righted himself, leaning into Blue for support. He panted for a little longer, breaths finally evening out. “It was for good reason!” he said, bouncing away from Blue. He was practically vibrating on his feet, a smile so wide taking up his face Blue worried that his cheeks would burst. “Guess what?” 

Blue took the bite. “What?”

Red looked at him conspiratorially, leaning into his ear and whispering, “Blue, I finally have a quirk.” He pulled back, rocking on his heels, grinning. 

This time it was Blue’s turn to smile so widely that it hurt. “Really? Red, that’s amazing! What is it?”

Red frowned, pausing between rising and falling on his heels. “It’s not really something I can show you,” he said, voice falling, then pricking back up, “But I can try!” Red took Blue’s hands into his, pulling Blue underneath the tree that held their initials. 

Blue liked how warm Red’s hands were in his, how soft they felt, and wow, his heart was pumping _really_ fast. Red surely couldn’t hear _just_ how fast it was beating, right? 

Blue nearly collided with Red as he stopped abruptly, spinning around on light feet. “Okay, Blue! You stay here, and I’m gonna go to the other side of the park. When I raise my hand, you need to whisper something, and then I’ll tell you what you said!”

So maybe Red _could_ hear how fast his heart was beating. “Okay!” he said, his heart now pumping into an anxiety-ridden rhythm. Red squeezed his hand once, then started to sprint across the park.

Blue felt a blush spread across his face. He should say something nice to Red. Something that he couldn’t say with Red right next to him. What was the thing everyone said to the people they liked?

Red twisted around, and even as a pinprick in the distance Blue could see his smile. It made his heart flutter nicely. He had the words he wanted to say resting on his tongue—he remembered right quick, watching Red’s jacket sway on his back. _I love you._ The words would feel foreign in his mouth, so it only made sense that he should say it in private, so his mouth could get used to how they would tumble through his throat.

Red waved excitedly in the distance.

Blue opened his mouth.

Sound exploded around him, ripping the words away from his throat. The tree’s branches swaying above him sounded like nails on a chalkboard, the horns of cars shoving daggers through his ears, the wind shrieking and screaming at him, way too loud, _far_ too loud! It felt like everything in the city was happening right up against him, thundering and overlapping, and overlapping and trumpeting. Utter, endless cacophony, echoing again and again and again in his ears. Everything resonating in his head, growing louder and louder, making him throw his head back in a scream to join the rest.

Then suddenly, nothing. Nothing but a high pitched whine in his ears that drowned everything out around him. No more screams, no more wind, nothing but that whine in ears filled with cotton.

Blue sank to his knees. He could feel his chest vibrating, he could feel his throat becoming raw, he could see Red crying above him and his mouth moving, but he couldn’t hear anything. The world held only silence. He could feel something dripping down the sides of his face. Shock, cold and sharp, pierced through his chest as he looked down on his hands and saw them covered with blood. 

Red was shaking his shoulders above him, tears streaming down his face and his mouth contorting into screams of his own. He could read Red’s lips, shouting his name over and over, but he couldn’t hear it; his ears still picked up that high pitched whine, but that was it. Everything else was silent. He couldn’t even hear his own heart beat. Was it still beating? Was this how dying happened? Everything going silent, blood streaming down like tears, hands shaky and throat raw from crying?

He looked up at Red, his tears splashing onto his face. He could feel his chest resonate, his throat throbbing with the words he cried, but couldn’t hear. _I can’t hear you, I can’t hear anything! Red, I can’t hear anything!_

Red collapsed onto him, hugging him tightly. Blue could feel his tears drip onto his neck, mixing with the blood still streaming out of his ears. He wrapped his own arms around Red, from muscle memory more than anything. Red was something warm, something soft to hold as reality set into him.

He couldn’t hear anything. He was deaf.

Deafened by Red. Red, like the blood soaking into his shirt and drying on his hands. 

Hurt by Red. Dear, sweet innocent Red.

Blackness encroached on the edges of his vision, his breaths coming in short bursts. He could feel numbness extending out to the ends of his limbs, his head sinking down into Red’s shoulder from dizziness. Still no sound came to him. 

He couldn’t hear how loud Red was screaming his name when he passed out in Red’s arms.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the second half is here! the word count is almost double the first one. i hope y'all enjoy it!

The tears had long since dried from Red’s face, but he still found himself heaving breaths into his pillow. The lights were off, the door locked, blankets stuffed underneath to block the light, but still Red could see it streaming in through the cracks, creeping in around the window, though he had tried covering that one too with thicker blankets than his usual curtains. 

Before, he would have been surrounded by pitch-dark, but now with his quirk, his sight was too good. His useless, _horrible_ quirk. Why did he want one in the first place? Had he known that the only thing it would do is hurt people he would have stayed normal forever.

He wouldn’t have hurt Blue.

Red screwed his eyes shut, another tearless gasp escaping his throat. He could still see it so clearly; Blue collapsing to the ground with a type of scream Red had never heard from him before. Blood running down the sides of his face. That look in his eyes...

Betrayal.

Blue never got scared. Blue never showed any sort of fear like that around Red, but whenever it slipped through the cracks Red could see his eyes go wide, his fist clench a little tighter, his jawline becoming a little bit sharper, but it would be replaced with resolve in an instant. But never was that directed towards him. How could one ever be scared of their best friend? How could one hold the resolve to ruin their best friend? How could he, someone so small and weak and useless, have hurt Blue so absolutely?

Whenever anyone had hurt Blue, he would twist it around and throw it back on them. He would leer at them, almost daring them to try again. He would bare his teeth at them, demanding that they left him and Red alone, that if they ever tried to hurt them again he would do far worse than what they could do to him. Only a few times he had to keep that promise, and they attacker would limp away into the shadows, and Red wouldn’t see them anymore.

And now _he_ was the one that hurt Blue. He snuffed out one of Blue’s senses entirely. What would be Blue’s vengeance be? Whatever it was, he deserved it. He didn’t deserve to have a friend like Blue anymore. He deserved every last punishment he would receive, every blow that Blue used to block, every painful word that would stab his heart open, every single one. 

Only bad people would make others hurt that much, so Red figured he was a bad person now. Bad people don’t have friends and don’t deserve love, so neither did Red. As long as he locked himself away, he wouldn’t have the chance to hurt other people. 

Life could have held a lot of wonderful things in store for him, but now, with this terrible, awful quirk, he didn’t deserve them. He would only hurt the people he loved, he would snuff out their senses one by one, with each scream echoing back and forth in his head until the end of time. Blue’s would still be at the forefront, that raw, unbridled screech that didn’t sound like it belonged to any human, much less one as strong and fearless as Blue. His own best friend.

Red shook his head, clamping the pillow tighter around his ears. No, Blue was now his _ex_ -best friend. Who would still want to be friends with a _monster_ like him? It had already been a few days, and Red hadn’t heard a single thing from Blue. He should get used to that. That near-daily contact would run up dry, until more days passed into weeks, into months, into years, without a single word. 

He deserved it.

Red heaved another breath through his raw throat. His room was still too bright. Was there any way to make it stop? He didn’t deserve to be anywhere near the light. Red sat up, holding his pillow in his arms, the mattress beneath him creaking at the movement. He wouldn’t have picked up on that before, but now he did. It all sounded too loud to him, the shudders his bed frame made whenever he moved, his own breath still shaking uneven, his heartbeat pumping through his ears. 

Outside his room, he could hear his parents talking quietly, though he couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. He didn’t _want_ to know what they were saying; he shouldn’t have been able to hear them talk in the first place. A pause when there was a knock on the door, then the door swinging open on squeaking hinges. A voice talking with them. Red furrowed his brow, and against his better judgement he strained to hear them.

_Is Red home? I want to see him._

Blue’s voice.

Panic rose in his chest, choking out his throat and shaking his shoulders. He clenched his pillow tighter, shoving it closer to him, as if it could be a valid substitute for the person he wanted to hold. 

_Blue, going limp in his arms as he cried his name. What had he done? What had he done? Blue said he couldn’t hear anything. This was his fault, his fault that Blue looked so small and scared, with the entire world going silent for him._

A knock on his bedroom door startled Red out of the memory. 

“Hey, can I come in?” Blue’s voice sounded too soft, probably to cover how angry he was at Red. He was here to teach Red a lesson, right? Just like everyone else that had ever crossed him. 

Tears slipped out of the corners of Red’s eyes as he curled in on himself. Another silent sob escaped his throat. He can’t deal with Blue, not right now, not _ever._ He didn’t want to be hurt, not by someone he once thought of as a friend. Wasn’t he already hurting enough already?

“Go away!” Red shouted, voice shaky with the onset of more tears. His vision blurred, but even still he can see that the light didn’t return to normal around his door.

Red could almost see Blue shift his weight from side to side. “You sure?” he said after a moment. 

“Go away!” Red shouted again, louder, more raw. He was devolving back into shaky sobs, a fit that would soon take control of his body and hold it captive for a while yet. Already he could feel his fingers growing numb. He screwed his eyes shut, trying and failing to hold back more tears. He can’t deal with Blue. How could he ever look at him in his eyes again? Or would that make him go blind too?

Red could hear Blue’s clothes catch against the rough edges of his door as he sat down. Why wasn’t he leaving? Seconds kept marching by, turning to minutes, turning to even longer minutes. Still, the light around Red’s door didn’t change. 

Blue couldn’t possibly hear how loud he was crying. Red had already made sure that Blue wouldn’t be able to hear again. But why did his weight keep flinching against the door whenever he let himself wail loudly? Red let himself go numb, falling back into the pit he had buried himself in, letting his emotions empty out and detach from reality. 

Minutes smeared together, everything passing by excruciatingly slowly and impossibly fast all at once. Blue had eventually pulled himself back up, exchanging a few words with his parents and the door closing hard behind him. But even with him gone, Red still let himself fall further, his heartbeats blurring into one thunderous sound, his eyes going blank and his room disappearing into pinpricks of black.

Somewhere between his crying fit, Red’s body finally gave out on him and he fell into an absolute black. 

In his dream, Red was weightless. His body felt healthy and hale again, ready to throw itself back into movement and living. Buildings flew past him as he ran through impossibly bright lit alleyways, each step widening them out until they pushed into proper city blocks. His feet hit the pavement again and again, the sensation of those steps shuddering through his body a new experience, now that he could _feel_ more deeply. It was strange, being conscious of the air flowing around his face, playing and twirling with his hair. The edges of buildings were sharper, the greens of the trees holding more hues than Red could count, the blue of the sky surreal and endless. Wisps of silver-white clouds lazed their way across the expanse, waves in a calm sea.

Sound was muted as he turned the corner, seeing the park in the distance. He could see Blue on the ground, holding his head and shouting something. Red was next to him in an instant, the distance covered in seconds. Blue was holding his shoulders, shaking him and yelling, but Red couldn’t make out the words. He seemed to grow larger, looming over Red and digging his fingers into Red’s arms. Sounds disappeared one by one as Blue’s shouting grew louder and louder. Soon, there was nothing but a persistent clicking in his ears, substituting what should have been words coming out of Blue’s mouth. His eyes were an angry tempest, and when that tempest released Red knew he would be worse off than any of his past enemies. 

Red shot up in his bed, breaths heaving in a hurried pant. That clicking... that wasn’t part of the dream. Red gathered his blankets around his shoulders as he swung his legs over the bed. The tapping was more insistent now, pounding against his window. The sun had set hours ago, the lights of his house dark, nothing spilling through his doorframe now. Red could hear a _snap_ coming from his windowsill. The curtains billowed as cold air spun into the room. 

Fear pounded against Red’s chest. This had to be a kidnapper! He had no way of protecting himself. Maybe if he hid under his blankets they would assume no one was there and would leave. Or maybe it would be better if he did get stolen away into the night, disposed of somewhere where he couldn’t hurt anyone else he cared about. 

Red heard a grunt as the person’s feet hit the floor. He heard the window close, cold air ceasing to flood his room. Footsteps came closer to his bed, and Red couldn’t stop the whimper that escaped his throat. He was going to get whisked away, without any way of escape. He was helpless; that’s why Blue stuck around him. He needed Blue to protect him. He couldn’t fight off this attacker on his own.

Red’s arms shook above his head, the air beneath the blanket growing hot and stale. He tried in vain to stop his breathing as he heard the steps stop right next to him. His heart thundered in his ears, his short breaths constricting his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut and covered his face as his blankets were torn from him. This was the end. This was the end, and all Red could do was shiver pathetically and whimper as his fate came crashing into him. His time was up. This was the universe getting its retribution for what he did.

Any second now.

Confusion replaced adrenaline. Why hadn’t he been whisked away into the dark yet? Hesitantly, Red opened his eyes, blinking to adjust to the dark. He slowly sat up, reaching and holding his blankets like a shield in front of him. The intruder was standing silently to his side.

“Did I wake you?” That voice...

Red scrunched his brow. “Blue?” he said hesitantly. 

“Yeah.” The weight on Red’s mattress shifted as Blue sat down next to him. He was staring down at his feet, biting his lip. This wasn’t the face Blue gave people before beating them up. This was something different. 

Red frowned, his thoughts fuzzy and distant. Blue shouldn’t be able to hear him, right? He said that he couldn’t hear anything. He couldn’t have misheard _that,_ not when Blue sounded so terrified. Blue didn’t _do_ terrified. 

But the Blue in front of him didn’t do this kind of vulnerability either. Not this kind of distant look with the fire burnt out of his eyes. He looked... wilted. Empty. The Blue he knew never looked like _this_ either.

Blue was picking the skin at the edges of his fingernails, swinging his legs beneath him. He pursed his lips, like he was going to say something, but let out an empty breath instead.

“Can you...” Red trailed off, fumbling words with his still foggy brain. “You can hear me?”

Blue nodded.

“But I thought—”

“You really thought you could get away with taking away all of my hearing?” Blue turned to face him, a small smile tugging his lips. “Red, do you even know me? I’m not going down without a fight.”

Relief washed over Red, taking away the heavy weight that had been slowly crushing him over the past few days. Tears pricked the edges of his eyes, but his heart was no longer weighing down his chest. 

“I mean, I won’t be able to hear like before, but I can still hear,” Blue’s words tumbled out of his mouth as he turned back to looking at his feet. “Not on my own—I’m going to have to wear these to hear.” He pointed to his ear, and Red could see the light glint over something that was inside and held itself around his ear. “My parents are still going to sign me up to learn sign language, just in case something happens to them so I can still talk to people. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to sign up with me but you didn’t open the door so I had to figure something out.”

Red sat still, stunned. Blue wanted him around still? Even after what he did? 

Blue’s hands were to his sides, grasping sheets in tightening fists. “I didn’t know what to do and this probably wasn’t the best idea—sneaking into your room, I mean. Sorry I scared you. I just—I missed you.”

“Blue,” Red whispered. “Why? After what I did to you? Why would you miss _me?_ ”

Blue turned to face him, his eyes reigniting as they met Red’s. Red wilted under his stare; it held such a power that seemed to burn into Red. “Why would I leave my best friend?”

“But I-”

“You didn’t mean to,” Blue interrupted. “I know you didn’t mean to. You didn’t know how your quirk worked. I made it worse myself, too.”

Red frowned. “How?” 

“You know how I can store hits? I can apparently store senses too,” Blue started to pick at his fingers. “My body reacted the way I trained it to, so it stored the pain the same way it would anything else, which just made it worse, and it released itself when it couldn’t hold it any longer.”

Red cast his gaze to his hands in his lap. He made a fist, his blankets catching in his fingers. They felt soft and slippery between them. He let out a sigh. After all of this, and Blue wasn’t going to leave him. Red could feel his breath shake in his throat. “Blue, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

The fury in those words made Red look back at Blue. He was staring straight ahead, eyes determined, jaw sharpened. His hands tangled with sheets as he made fists. “You didn’t mean to, so there’s no need to be sorry.” Blue scrunched his brow, biting his lip. “Listen, Red, I know you wouldn’t have hurt me on purpose. I wouldn’t either. If I hurt you at all, I wouldn’t forgive myself because I...” Blue paused, then shook his head. His voice was shaky as he continued. “Because you’re my best friend, Red. You’re my best friend and I would do anything for you.” 

“Blue,” Red trailed off. He couldn’t think of anything to say. He could feel a knot pulling at the back of his throat, heralded by tears slipping out of his eyes. His shoulders shook, his fingers becoming numb with the onset of tears. 

A cry left his lips, and Red found Blue staring back at him, eyes widening. “Did-did I say something wrong?” Blue panicked, “I’m not mad at you, I-I promise! Red, what—”

Red pulled Blue into a hug, cutting off his words by burying his head into his shoulder. Blue froze, then hesitantly wrapped his arms around Red. His grip grew tighter as Red let the sobs wrack through his body. He had been holding that guilt so tightly, that idea that he would end up friendless so closely that with Blue’s words, all of his fears and worries exploded out of him in the only way Red knew how to release them. The knot was unfurling with every shiver of his body, every cry that left him, Blue’s warmth bleeding into him and being that stable ground that Red had been drifting without. 

They held each other tightly until Red’s crying had gone from a wail to a whisper. He didn’t feel that knot in his throat, that guilt weighing him down, not now with Blue wrapped around him. Blue pulled back first, concern coloring his eyes as he studied Red. “You okay?” 

Red nodded, finding Blue’s hands and holding them tight. Color bloomed across Blue’s cheeks. Red doubted he would have been able to pick that out, not without his quirk. Maybe, as long as he kept it to himself, he could be something useful. Not a hero, not like Blue could be, but at least something good. 

“Hey, Blue?”

“Yeah, Red?” Blue’s grip tightened around his hands. 

Red could feel color dusting his cheeks as he spoke. “I know you’re not supposed to be out or anything but, do you think you could stay the night? I missed you, too.”

Blue smiled softly. “Of course.” He squeezed Red’s hands as he kicked off his shoes and settled down next to him. “Anything for you.”

Red smiled back at him. He could feel his chest bloom with warmth, the way it always did whenever he was close to Blue. Red could feel his heart buoy up with Blue’s body so close to his, that feeling he still couldn’t fully describe. And still, Blue would stay by his side, no matter what happened—even through this worst case scenario, where Blue had every right to never want to see him again. Blue still wanted to be around him. He wasn’t going to hold this against him. They were still going to be best friends.

They were still going to be inseparable.


End file.
